Backlight, VPRO‘s weekly, 50-minute, future affairs-program, balances on the edge of storytelling and journalism. It focuses on the questions that arise from our globalized world in which societies, economies and cultures seek a new equilibrium. Backlight aims to grasp the quintessence of prominent trends and developments.

Purple Hearts

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This documentary portrays six American veterans who were seriously wounded in the war in Iraq.

In the aftermath of 9/11, America became to its own mind, a nation of heroes, as if a world full of heroes felt safer. Heroism is the password in an insecure world, the mantra we use against the dullness of ordinary life.This documentary portrays six American veterans who were seriously wounded in the war in Iraq. A portrait of six soldiers, who became heroes in their homeland, received the Purple Heart and - for some - also the US citizenship. Two of them were wounded in fire fights. One was delivering ice. Another walked off into the desert on a bathroom break and stepped on a mine. One was wounded while blowing up munitions dump. Two of the soldiers who look the least damaged are blind, far more damaged than the camera can record. What is their background? What does their life look like now? What were and what are their dreams? These soldiers became heroes, because they got wounded in a war they believed in and had to believe in. They paid a big price for their heroism. These portraits measure the gap between civilians and soldiers, the inexplicable difference between peace and war.

VPRO Backlight

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Backlight targets a worldwide audience. Transmission rights are regularly bought by broadcasters from Canada to Korea and from Finland to Argentina and the episodes have won numerous awards. Check out their video's on YouTube channel VPRO Documentary.